Fate - First Reply When Hope Sunsets

[Lumen]

Smoke curled like the twist and twine of witches' fingers along the bleak, grey sky above the mountains of Fel Draza. The ancient, forgotten city of Vel Draza was several peaks away, not even visible from where the carnage lay. The bodies of villagers and Anirian soldiers littered the snowy-ground. Structures long burned smoldered nearby, barely any heat left from the remaining embers. A few inches of fresh flurries already covered the bodies, signaling the passage of a few hours since whatever happened took place.

But there were no arrows. No enemy bodies left behind. No sign of a struggle other than the death left behind. No sign of life.

Until a lump half buried in the snow moved. Shifted. Golden-shield clearing from the snow as her arm moved. Lumen winced, as she tried to open her eyes. Tried to move. Tried to stop the ringing in her ears even as she felt an icy wind down her back.

 

[Ivan Skender]

Ivan woke up among the carnage. He lay on the smouldering wreck of what had once been a building of some sort. As he opened his eyes, the light from the sky - bleak though it may have been - was enough for him to wince in discomfort.

He rubbed his forehead, only to notice the blood that drenched his hand, as it retracted.

Fuck.

He tried then to hoist himself up, using his elbows as support, but failed as a searing pain shot through his rib cage.

Cracked rib as well, how wonderful.

Eventually, after a couple of tries, he did manage to get back onto an upright, sitting position. He noticed that on his left hand still lay the Warhammer he had fought with, and onto which poured a thin stream of fresh blood from a cut on his arm.

- “Kress’ sake” - He hissed, under his breath.

That was when he noticed the moving pile of snow a few steps from him. With a gargantuan effort, he managed to hoist himself up, and, using his Warhammer as support, he limped to where the snow had just stirred. As he got there, he knelt by the mound and started shoveling with his hands. Eventually, a face became visible, and he recognized Lumen.

- “You okay?” -​

 

[Lumen]

A sticky, dried, cakey substance matted her golden hair near both her ears. Everything ached. It was hard for her to hear. Tawny-eyes stared up at Ivan as he cleared the rest of the snow. His mouth moved but it sounded as if he was talking far away.

"What?" She croaked and her head shook, fingers coming to rub near her ears only to come back stained with dried blood. She frowned looking down at them. With no small amount of effort, she pushed herself to her elbows and looked around.

Everyone was dead.

Everyone except she and Ivan, the only initiates on this trip. Shifting her legs, she winced and looked down, noticing for the first time the pool of warm blood still spilling from a deep gash on top of her right thigh. If these were the old ways or, if it was Leander, she imagined this is where he'd try to kill her now. No one at the Academy would think twice. Just another initiate that didn't come back from a mission.

And for a moment, her thoughts went to Caeso Diemut. How only one of the two brothers came back from that mission not so long ago. And his own words to Lumen the last time she saw him. 'We must show our strength.'

 

[Ivan Skender]

Ivan glanced at Lumen, his gaze alternating between her leg wound and the dried blood that crowned her head. She looked stunned, much like he'd been a few moments ago, and that wound on her thigh did not look good.

The thought of leaving Lumen behind and attempting to reach Vel Draza by himself did flicker through his head, however he shoved it aside as quickly as it had come to him. As it stood, he was in about as good a condition as she was and so, the idea of hiking through the snowy peaks of Fel Draza on his own was a stupid one. Hurt though she may have been, Lumen could still be useful for whatever came next.

First though he would need to stop the bleeding, and not just that of the girl. Glancing behind him, he noticed the bright red trail his mauled arm had left behind.

As Lumen hoisted herself up to her elbows, Ivan dragged himself through the snow towards one of the nearby corpses that littered the grounds. From the body, he ripped off a large swath of cloth with which he would go on to press against Lumen’s leg, so as to stop the bleeding.

- “Can you walk?” - He asked her, as he tied a piece of the cloth around her leg, to serve as a bandage. With what was left of the linen in-hand, he then unstrapped a part of his armour to bandage his own wound. Once the plate covering his arm slid off though, he noticed the cut to be longer and deeper than he thought it had been.

Fuck.​

 

[Lumen]

"Maybe," an answer to his question as she bit down on the inside of her cheek to keep the cry of pain from releasing from her body as he tied down tight on her wound. Bracing herself, she slowly sat up. A frown as she saw Ivan's arm.

"That's bad," she whispered. Worse than her leg. "Here, we need to find some kind of shelter then I can take a proper look at it. It probably needs to be cauterized." She could do it. If they found a spot.

"Can you give me your other shoulder?" She needed a hand up and perhaps with his help, she'd be able to limp far enough until they found something. Maybe a cave. Abandoned shack. She just didn't know what was out here. If anything was out here. Her head swiveled at the carnage. The bodies turning blue in the cold.

"Do you remember what happened?"

 

[Ivan Skender]

- "Nope." - He said, as he finished wrapping whatever little cloth was left around his injured arm. The textile was immediately tinged crimson, as it soaked the blood out of his wound.

Falling on one knee, he offered Lumen his shoulder as support. - "I just remember leaving from Vel Draza. After that, it's all a blur." -

He winced as he felt his blood drip through his makeshift bandage and down onto the snow-covered grounds. Though cauterization sounded about right for his wound, he was not certain about where the two of them would be able to find any proper shelter to perform it in before they froze or - equally as likely - bled to death. He didn't even know for sure where they were. They could be close to Vel Draza, yes, but they could also be a week's march away, and with the two of them in this sorry state, venturing out into the wild did seem like a fool-proof way of getting themselves killed.

- "Do you remember anything?" - He asked. Maybe she would have a clue of where they were, or, at least, in which way they should be going.​

 

[Lumen]

Reaching up, her fingers clasped his shoulder. As he stood, she leaned on him heavily for support. She pressed against him as she put a tentative step on her leg.

Pain lanced up her leg and a small whimper she immediately clamped down on left her throat.

"No," she finally breathed as she hobbled with him further away from the carnage. One final glance over her shoulder, her breath coming out in warm puffs in the cold, stagnant air. "Maybe one of us will remember later." It was clear they'd both been knocked out. The act perhaps saving their lives.

Ivan would immediately find that being so close to Lumen was much warmer. Moreso than anything related to bodyheat between the layers and clothing that separated them. The air itself the temperature of a pleasant spring day.

"Maybe we can find an old hunter's shack."

If they were lucky.

Then she could look at his shoulder. And rest her leg.

 

[Ivan Skender]

A grunt escaped his lips as Lumen leaned on his shoulder, the increased pressure suddenly making all the injuries throughout his body evident. Pain lanced through him from his broken rib as the girl pressed against it, he felt his legs nearly give out from the added weight, and from one of them he felt the familiar warm feeling of rushing blood down his thigh, probably from a wound re-opening due to strain.

Through gritted teeth though, he persevered. Wrapping his arm around her waist to provide some added support, Ivan started walking and the two of them began to make their way out of the battlefield.

As they advanced, Lumen's magic did help to dull his pain, as the atmosphere around him grew increasingly pleasant, but it could only do so much, and with each stride, his body ached more and more.

- "Maybe." - He agreed, trying to focus on finding said hunter's shack as a means to ignore the pain that shot up from his rib with every other step he took. Eventually, he managed to spot a promising candidate.

At the very edge of the battlefield stood, though barely, a small wooden shack, with a thatched roof. Its facade was shattered, the roof half-collapsed, and there was still some smoke coming out of it, but - unlike all the surrounding wrecks - it still resembled a house, and he figured it could offer the two of them some cover against the cold.

- "That one?" - He asked, pointing with his chin to the shack.​

 

[Lumen]

If they weren't so desperate. If she wasn't as battered and tired as she felt. Surprise may have slipped across the determined clench of her jaw as Ivan wrapped his arm around her waist to steady her. Two bedraggled and half-dead souls alone in the wilderness. For once, two initiates not trying to kill or double cross each other. Even if the old ways were supposedly buried with the revolution.

"Yeah," she grimaced as they got closer. There was smoke...was that from the battle or was someone there? Still leaning on Ivan, she got to the door first and wrenched it open. It gave without too much effort. Snow littered the ground from the holes in the roof. There was an old bed shoved against one of the crumbling walls. A small broken table and two chairs.

But there was a fire place with one or two smoldering embers. Perhaps dead in the battle outside. Perhaps coming back later. Right now, Lumen didn't care. It was some kind of shelter.

"No one home," Lu said quietly as she inched them toward the bed, easing down so they could both sit on the edge. "Let's take a look at your wounds. I'm no Marcella," she winced, knowing that the other girl had tortured half their class. Still, she'd also been a healer. "But I can at least stop the blood loss."

 

[Ivan Skender]

He limped a few steps further, past the entrance of the shack and the fireplace within. When finally in reach of the bed, he eased his support of Lumen, and let himself fall onto the border of the mattress with a soft thud.

From the moment they had started walking until now he had lost quite a lot of blood, as evident from the red trail he'd left since entering the small, ruined dwelling they found themselves in. Although while getting there his mind had been focused elsewhere, he now started to fully feel the effects of the blood loss. His felt light-headed, cold and he could hear his heart thumping faintly in his chest, as if the simple sitting position he found himself in was enough to deplete his strength.

- "Best if you do." - He replied to Lumen, involuntarily slurring his speech to a rather perceptible degree. - "And quickly." -

He felt his eyes getting heavier with each word, as if begging him to take a well-deserved rest. He felt tired, and very much worn-down, but above all he felt cold; so very fucking cold.

He shook his head with a grunt, making a large effort to stay conscious. He then extended his left arm to examine his wound, noting an alarming quantity of blood pouring out of the cut.

- "Then we can get the fuck outta here." -​

 

[Lumen]

"Okay well sit back and try not to move. This is going to hurt." She stood and with drew her sword. Tawny-eyes set upon the tip until the metal began to glow a white-hot red. The air steaming around it. With any sort of makeshift bandage removed from where he was bleeding, she moved forward.

"Brace yourself," she warned, then moved quickly so he wouldn't expect it. The super-heated metal cauterizing his bleeding wound quickly and efficiently. Though, extremely painfully.

There would be a sizzle and the smell of burning and sizzling flesh as it closed.

 

[Ivan Skender]

- "Yeah, yeah just get o--" - He started smugly, safe behind the knowledge that he'd been through at least a couple cauterizations, and that this one would surely not be that different.

That though, was before he felt Lumen's sword burning through the skin on his arm.

- "FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCKKKKK!!!!!!" - His howl was so loud that he'd have been surprised it didn't caused an avalanche... if he wasn't too focused on the pain, that was.

After a brief few seconds, which felt like an eternity, during which he struggled to the breaking point to even remain conscious, he felt Lumen's blade recede.

He looked at his charred arm, doing his utmost not to throw up with the scent of burned flesh. He found he could move it, though it still didn't feel real as he gazed at it, as if somehow that was not his arm, but rather something detached from his body he could control.

He shook his head. Enough of the day-dream.

- "Wh-- where to next?" - He asked, containing a nausea as the smell of burned flesh spiked up his nose.​

 

[Lumen]

She grunted and carefully put her sword down.

"Nowhere. You need rest and so do I." Hobbling over to a corner of the cabin where the roof caved in, she began packing a ball of snow and brought it over. "Here, it isn't much but it will help with the burn and swelling."

Plucking something that could barely be seen as a blanket for how damaged it was, she spread it across the opposite side of the small bed he already occupied and eased herself down. Her leg was throbbing but she didn't think it was infected.

Hopefully after a few hours rest, they'd both feel good enough to make it down the mountain.

 

[Ivan Skender]

- "Fine." - He conceded, as he put the snow to his charred skin. He knew as well he wouldn't make it far in his current condition, and the prospect of getting some rest was too much of an allure for him to pass up.

- "But no funny business while I'm out." - He jested, as he made himself comfortable under the blanket. - "Kress knows how tempting that can be." -

"Not that it would be that bad." - Was the last thought through his head, before he passed out.​

 

[Lumen]

Kress knows how tempting that can be. -

A quiet harumph as she gingerly turned her back to him, facing the wall. Clearly a response as in no, it was not tempting. One hand curled around a dagger beneath the sheets in case he got any other ideas. And as strange as it was, in this moment she missed Caeso Diemut. With him, she never had to worry about anything untowards.

It took awhile but her eyes closed and she finally drifted into an uneasy sleep.

Too bad Kristen wasn't here to pray to her god. Lumen needed some prayers for her leg to feel much better than it was or else she doubted they'd be able to get down this mountain tomorrow.

 

[Ivan Skender]

The sun shone brightly in the sky, and the clamor of steel rang loudly through the bare stone of the practice yard. At its center, Ivan swung his sword against that which he knew was the biggest threat he'd faced: The terror of Aniria, Scourge of the Falwood, Doombringer of the Academy, Lady Oraya Urahil hacked at him mercilessly with a double-headed axe larger than any he'd seen in his life, her movements unimpeded, even when wearing that delicate silk dress. With one fell stroke after the other she wore him down, grinding him down mercilessly until, at last, with a mighty kick, she sent him flying across the field, and through a thick wooden door.

When he got up, Oraya was gone, and surrounding him was a small column of Anirian soldiers. They all laughed at him for falling on that wagon, though he couldn't remember why he'd landed there to begin with. Looking around he noticed the mountains and the snow. He knew Vel Draza to be close, though he couldn't see it from there. The Anirian company was merry, though something seemed off about that whole scene. Then, suddenly, everything changed. A thick fog started to come down from the high peaks around them. From its speed and intensity, one could be forgiven for thinking it to be an avalanche, but Ivan knew it to be something else.

With a quick look around, he noticed he was alone. Hadn't he been alone this entire time? He couldn't remember. In any case, the fog had slowed and now seemed to have come to a standstill, hovering around him. Though he couldn't see anything beyond the white shroud, he knew something to be lurking behind. Suddenly, the mists lunged at him.

Ivan woke up gasping for air, the last image on his mind, before waking up, being that of bright-red eyes behind a shroud of white. Not too far from him, Lumen was still asleep, while from outside a faint light came in through the many openings of the ruined dwelling they were in. From inside, he couldn't tell if it was early evening, or dawn. In whichever case, they should be going.

- "Adagio?" - He called out, nudging his passed-out partner. - "We should get going." -​

 

[Lumen]

Her tawny-eyes snapped open at his nudge. She forced her magic down. It had been ready to boil him alive from the inside out. Sitting up slowly, she looked over her shoulder at him and nodded in agreement.

They couldn't stay here.

Whatever had done this to their unit and almost to them?

It could come back.

Bracing herself, she grabbed a wooden piece of debris leaning against the inside of the cabin. It looked like it would do as a crutch. While the swelling was down, she would still need medical attention...eventually. Standing and leaning heavily on structure, she looked to Ivan.

"You ready? How's your wound?"

 

[Ivan Skender]

- "Better." - He said, as he examined his cauterized skin. His arm still felt somewhat sore, though he figured that - for the time being at least - that was as good as it was going to get.

He walked over to the door they'd came in through. He peered outside as Lumen got back on her feet.

With hindsight, maybe it was not such a good idea to venture out just yet. He still was not sure if it was sunset or sunrise - the overcast sky making it impossible to determine anything through the position of the Sun - and if it was the former upon them, then the two of them, with Lumen still wounded, were in no position to go stumbling around in the dark.

- "Maybe we should wait here for some more time?" - He suggested. - "I'm not actually sure if its evening or morning." - They could have slept for only few hours, or through the entire night, after all.​